Improvement in left ventricular dysfunction after surgical correction of mitral regurgitation.

Objective: To evaluate whether left ventricular end-systolic (ESD) diameters < or = 51mm in patients (pt) with severe chronic mitral regurgitation (MR) are predictors of a poor prognosis after mitral valve surgery (MVS).

Methods: Eleven pt (aged 36 +/- 13 years) were studied in the preoperative period (pre), median of 36 days; in the early postoperative period (post1), median of 9 days; and in the late postoperative period (post2), mean of 38.5 +/- 37.